Ever experienced an awe-filled classroom? The kind of awe that leaves students speechless? I have. Knock Knock by Daniel Beaty leaves my students swimming in thoughts. Beaty tells the story of his childhood. His father loved him deeply, but his world stopped when Beaty’s father went to prison. Years later, Beaty imagines a letter from his father teaching him to be a man. The Slam Poem’s message resounds: We are the sons and daughters of our parents, but we are not their choices. For any student struggling with a household dysfunction, a parent in prison, or muddling through a divorce, the message is inspirational and relevant. Relevant lessons create student buy-in.

With twenty-odd students in the classroom, finding a resource that impacts most students is challenging, but when you find one, take it all the way home to May.

Educators know extrinsically motivated students usually need a personal connection to buy into learning. Sadly, I teach fewer and fewer intrinsically motivated students each year. What could be the reason? Ding…ding…ding! You guessed it! Social media is one reason intrinsic motivation is down-trending in education. Students swipe to an eye-catching Tik-Tok video, earning a quick dopamine hit. Moving one finger one inch to swipe a cell phone screen reaps a reward. Students’ internal drives to imagine, create, and produce fade.

I wish social media addiction was just a nightmare. One solution I’ve found to energize extrinsically motivated students is to inspire strategically. Inspiration fills up students’ internal gas tanks. When the daily content is not a knock-out like Knock Knock by Daniel Beaty, I bring my A-game instruction. First, students create relevance between the content and themselves.

How do you make each lesson personally relevant to every single student? The secret is that you do not have to. They do. Use the six degrees of separation game, but classroom style. Students may not know Edgar Allan Poe, but what about the scary clown from Stephen King’s It? Maybe they don’t know It, but have they visited a haunted house? Let students create relevance together! Suddenly, closely reading another short story isn’t lame. Hype up the most enthusiastic student with your energy! Inspiration to learn hides inside excitement.

Content Delivery Tips

Vinh Giang, magician, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker, teaches professional communication all over the world. Teachers can apply his public speaking strategies inside the classroom.

Use your voice as an instrument. During instruction, consider your pacing. Are you speaking too fast? Is your voice monotone? Intentionally elevate or lower your pitch. Are you ending your sentences with confidence? Speak your last word with deeper resonance. How is your volume? Use a bold volume to influence. When instruction is vital, whisper for effect.

Mastering small communication skills keeps students focused on instruction. Inspire student learning by asking dichotomous reflective questions. Once students find the content personally relevant, motivating sustained effort follows. Insightful and influential instruction inspires, motivates, and educates.

Motivation

We start August motivated to be the best teacher, don’t we? Hahaha, that’s life laughing in your face—life’s challenges stomp motivated mindsets. Students are not immune either. Sometimes, I imagine my students and I ziplining across a forest canopy except we get stuck in the middle! Teaching requires ziplining students across the metaphorical zip line to the other side. Thankfully, motivation is a teachable skill.

James Clear, Atomic Habits author, illuminates life-changing habits that step in when motivation suspends us on that zip line.

He suggests starting small and increasing by one percent daily. Start students reading for five minutes a night with a timer. The next night, six minutes. As students accomplish small goals, their brains program the habit. Eventually, reading will be muscle memory. Clear suggests making the habit obvious. Have students place their books on the nightstand.

Clear also affirms that mindset shifts make habits desirable. The difference between “I don’t have to read. I get to read,” holds power. In class, reframe your words purposefully to promote gratitude.

Students need self-discipline to do uninspired tasks. Habits secure self-discipline. Evidence includes accidentally leaving your cell phone at home and feeling like you’re missing an appendage! Habits sustain daily momentum and motivation!

Education

Education, the last component in the Teacher’s Trinity, is more than grasping concepts in math, science, history, and reading. After strategically inspiring and motivating, teachers must ingrain education’s value. Yes, making As on a report card is valuable to their future, but that’s not what I’m equating with value. Classroom teachers shape students’ understandings of how to navigate a complex world. For our purposes, education seeks learning with delight, heeding corrections, and walking through life with a heart for equity and justice. Education is wisdom.

To transform a five-year-old with an oversized backpack into a high school senior flaunting a graduation gown means strategically teaching wisdom.

Inside the classroom, wisdom is mastering long-term gratification, setting goals, and empowering a personal vision. Instilling these attributes largely determines success. The 21st-century student continues to get sucked into the digital world, which means extrinsic motivation is on the rise. Teachers can increase rigor and celebrate as students meet small benchmarks to counter this. Praise the teeny growth. Loudly speak words that made us strive as kids, “I am so proud of you!” Learning must yield a greater emotional return for students to select working hard over social media.

Reverse roles to place learning inside your students’ hands. Assign your students a project to teach you a skill! Re-energize a love for learning. Optimize goal-setting while students feel excited and proud of their teaching accomplishments.

Develop vision by emphasizing students’ natural gifts and abilities. Students can discover their individual intelligence with an online assessment from IDRlabs. Knowing personal learning inclinations leads to passion and purpose, core ingredients for inspiration!

Educators never stop learning; check out our available graduate degree programs  to hone your skills and promote lifelong learning and academic excellence.

The post The Teacher’s Trinity: Inspiration, Motivation, and Education appeared first on Graduate Programs for Educators.

You are not alone. Many of the best educators I know have four or five legitimate ideas that they were in charge or making the laws, good things could happen. Fortunately for their students, but not for all of education, these great educators are in the classroom and only have so much influence.  As one teacher, their voice is somewhat limited, but if these voices could unite, many politicians help run and fund our education system that should be on edge.

Teachers, administrators, other staff members of the school system, your combined voice has amazing potential. The problem with potential is that it is unused and not yet in action.
Dictionary.com defines potential as, “having or showing the capacity to become or develop into something in the future.” This means that potential has not been fulfilled, and it is still sitting there.

If educators around the nation and even in their own state could find a way to merge into one big voice, you would be looking at one of the largest and strongest voting blocks in history. What politician would want to say no to his constituents that they voted against something that could help teachers.

A final point before we move to the discussion: in Texas, where this author has over twenty years of education experience, teachers fall short of voting as a strong block, and if they ever did, it would be one of the most robust voting blocks around. There are over 1.9 million educators in the state of Texas, and the educator voting block proportionally is one of the smallest in the state.

So how can educators unite and make that voice stronger?

Working with Policymakers

First and most obvious, let your local politicians know who you are and what is happening in school buildings regarding educational issues. Let’s take a page from some of our most ‘involved’ parents. Sometimes the squeaky wheel does get the grease and the attention. In our case, many of our state politicians have their political job and their regular job. As a proud partner of Raise Your Hand Texas, we have been able to go sit with our local politicians and discuss educational issues from vouchers to teacher salaries to safety. They told us they have not heard of many of the issues created by some of the current laws because educators have not told them. Many of these politicians don’t have the time to hear about all the issues…you can be that voice by simply every once in a while, dropping an email or call to your local or state representative.

Many of you have played Powerball and used the multiplier to make that win more powerful. Imagine if these representatives were to start getting more and more contacts from educators…the voice would multiply and seem larger.

A simple Google search of who represents you will lead you to many simple ways to find your representatives. Just letting your representatives know the reality of what is happening in the classrooms will raise much awareness for educational issues.

Supporting Teacher Unions

Being from Texas, I am not privy to the full power of a teacher union, but we will return to that in just a minute. In Texas strong teacher associations, such as the Texas State Teachers Association who are affiliated with the National Educators Association support teachers in two major ways. TSTA has paid lobbyists in the capital of Texas and on Capital Hill in Washington to make it easier for teachers to have a voice. Secondly, they provide legal services to teachers when they may need help. Legal services are expensive, and this gives access to teachers to important legal situations.

In the past few years in Texas, we have recently had more teachers moving in from California and some New England states where unions are strong. Our newest math teacher from California talks a lot about the union there that has helped protect teacher jobs, secure good salaries, and serve the number of teachers in his previous state.

Being involved in these organizations can create a safety net and level of support at the state level for your fellow educators.

Be Your Own Cheerleader

Lastly, the power of what you say and do locally will impact your community and your voice. A superintendent once made a lasting point with me and my staff one day when we were talking about a bond that was coming up.

Many of these bonds and issues are won in the simplest of places; in the grocery store, at the swimming pool, at local restaurants, just simply in the way educators talk about what is happening in the schools every day.

So, what is your narrative when people ask you about how things are going in the classroom? What will answer when you are asked the next time about what needs to change in education to make it better?

How you answer those questions to people in the community will impact how they talk about education. They will say things like, “I talked to two teachers the other day, and they said they needed…”

You have that power as an expert in education because you are doing it. Now, if as educators we can unite as one voice…our power would be difficult to stop!

Teachers never stop learning; check out our available graduate degree programs  to hone your skills and promote lifelong learning and academic excellence.

The post Educating for the Future: Advocating for Changes in Education appeared first on Graduate Programs for Educators.

The doctorate is a highly specialized degree that opens up a wide range of career opportunities in the field of education. While many people assume that earning a doctorate in education only leads to careers in academia or school administration, the truth is that the degree can qualify you for a variety of roles both inside and outside the classroom. While many individuals with a doctorate in education pursue traditional academic roles as professors and researchers, numerous other career opportunities are available to those with this degree. In this article, we will explore some of the jobs that a doctorate in education qualifies you for.

Perhaps the most obvious career path for someone who has completed doctoral programs in education is to pursue a role in academia. This might involve teaching courses in education, conducting research in the field, or mentoring graduate students. Here are a few examples of academic roles that someone with a doctorate in education might pursue:

Academic Roles

Professor

Many colleges and universities require their faculty members to hold a doctorate degree in their field. In the case of education, professors may teach courses in subjects like educational psychology, curriculum design, or educational leadership. They may also conduct research in these areas, publish academic articles or books, and serve on committees or advisory boards within their institution.

Department Chair

In some cases, a professor with a doctorate in education may be promoted to serve as the chair of their department. This role typically involves overseeing the department’s curriculum, managing faculty members, and developing policies that support the department’s mission and goals.

Academic Dean

Another potential career path for someone with a doctorate in education is to serve as an academic dean. In this role, they would oversee one or more academic departments within a college or university, work with faculty members to develop new programs or initiatives and ensure that the institution is meeting its academic standards.

Education Policy Roles

Another area where a doctorate in education can be useful is in the field of education policy. This might involve working with government agencies, non-profits, or educational institutions to develop policies that promote student success and educational equity. Here are a few examples of education policy roles that someone with a doctorate in education might pursue:

Education Consultant

Many school districts or educational organizations hire consultants to help them develop and implement new policies or programs. A consultant with a doctorate in education might specialize in areas like curriculum design, assessment and evaluation, or teacher professional development.

Education Policy Analyst

Another potential career path for someone with a doctorate in education is to work as a policy analyst for a government agency or non-profit organization. In this role, they would analyze data, research current policies, and recommend new policies or initiatives supporting student success and educational equity.

Education Advocate

Someone with a doctorate in education might also choose to work as an advocate for educational issues. This might involve lobbying for policies that support students and teachers, working with community organizations to promote educational equity, or writing articles or blog posts that raise awareness about important issues in the field.

K-12 School Leadership Roles

Most of the job roles occupied by individuals who have a doctorate in education are roles held by leaders in K-12 school districts. Some of the job roles include:

School Administrator

One of the most common career paths for individuals with a doctorate in education is becoming a school administrator. School administrators are responsible for overseeing the daily operations of schools, from managing budgets and resources to hiring and supervising staff. They also play a critical role in setting policies that affect the educational outcomes of students. This would include job titles such as: assistant principals, principals, district directors, executive directors, chiefs, assistant superintendents, deputy superintendents and superintendents.

Curriculum Specialist

Curriculum specialists are responsible for designing and implementing educational programs that align with the goals and objectives of a school or district. They work closely with teachers and other educators to develop instructional materials and assessments that promote student learning and achievement.

Corporate Training Roles

While it may seem surprising, a doctorate in education can also be useful for those interested in corporate training roles. Many companies are recognizing the importance of ongoing employee development and are hiring professionals with advanced degrees to design and implement training programs. Here are a few examples of corporate training roles that someone with a doctorate in education might pursue:

Corporate Trainer

Corporate trainers use their expertise in education to design and deliver training programs for employees in various industries. They develop training materials, conduct training sessions, and evaluate the effectiveness of training programs. Corporate trainers work for corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations.

Learning and Development Manager

In this role, someone with a doctorate in education might work with a company’s leadership team to develop training programs that align with the organization’s goals and values. They would also oversee the implementation of these programs and evaluate their effectiveness.

Instructional Designer

An instructional designer with a doctorate in education might specialize in designing training materials and courses for adult learners. They would work closely with subject matter experts to create relevant materials for adults that complement adult learning styles.

In conclusion, a doctorate in education offers numerous career opportunities beyond traditional academic roles. Whether you aspire to become a school administrator, educational researcher, or corporate trainer, a doctorate in education can help you achieve your professional goals while making a positive impact on the field of education.

Are you interested in pursuing a doctorate program to advance your career? If so, check out our available in-person, hybrid, or online doctoral programs in education today!

The post Jobs That a Doctorate in Education Qualifies You For appeared first on Graduate Programs for Educators.

Below you’ll be able to learn more about benefits and challenges that can be found in education, as well as education and skills needed to move into the world of education.

Benefits and Challenges Found in Education

As the old saying goes: nobody goes into teaching for the money, but the starting salary of a teacher is comparable to many other professions out there and will provide for the living expenses of most beginning teachers. Teachers receive salary increases the longer they stay in the profession, and most find that retirement benefits are great. Many teachers aren’t drawn to the profession by money; on the contrary they are drawn to it because of the intrinsic rewards they often receive.

Being a teacher means having the opportunity to impact thousands of lives throughout your career. Teachers can see firsthand how their hard work pays off. For example, in first grade, teachers get the pleasure of watching most students enter their classrooms with only phonological awareness and exit their classrooms with the ability to read and obtain information from texts.

In addition to being able to see firsthand the benefits of helping students learn, being a teacher means having access to a work schedule that allows for you to be off on holidays and summers. This gives an opportunity for educators to spend time with their families and to be able to provide care to their children when school is out for snow days and holidays.

Additionally, teachers can have a reliable schedule with the same hours each day. Teachers can make doctor’s appointments and even plan vacations based on their available time off without worrying if too many other employees have already taken a specific date off or that a supervisor may not approve it.

As with any career, teaching has its positives and negatives. If you are someone interested in impacting the lives of children and their families, lifelong learning, and having a great schedule, exploring the world of teaching is something you should do.

Education and Skills Needed to Move to Education

If you are strongly considering a career in education, you’ll need to know what it takes to get there. So how do you begin this journey? Here are a few steps you can take to obtain the skills and education needed to become a teacher.

Areas of Education

Decide what area of education you would like to go into. There are many choices from exceptional children services, high school, middle school, elementary school, special education, education consultant jobs, to even teaching academically gifted students.

Do some research and determine what you’d like to student and what type of teaching license you’d like to obtain, and what type of degree you would like to earn.

Find What’s Right for You

Do some research on what program you’d like to earn your degree from and enroll. There are so many choices out there these days. Some programs are all in person, some are all online, and others are a hybrid of online and in-person to prepare you for traditional teaching and online teaching positions.

Resources for finding the right school and program can be found online, such as tips and guidance for how to choose the right graduate program. Some of these include: researching the program’s accreditation and program content, considering the cost of the program, considering the difficulty and length of the program, and considering if the program as a whole is right for you.

Learn All You Can

After selecting and enrolling in a program, it is time to shine. While earning your degree, be sure to put your best effort forward and learn all that you can. During this time, you might also do some test preparation for any upcoming licensure exams and volunteer at schools when you can get real-world experience. Many potential educators find that passing exams is one of the biggest challenges.

For example, in North Carolina, teachers are required to take all exams in their first year of licensure and pass all exams by the end of the third year. Candidates are highly encouraged to take these tests before graduation so that they do not have this task hanging over their heads while they are teaching and the course content is fresh on their minds. For elementary education and special education, teachers have exams they must pass for licensure. These include Elementary Education: CKT – Mathematics and Foundations of Reading, which requires lots of studying and preparation; tutoring and test preparation guide books are available to those in need.

Get Your Name Out There

Lastly, upon graduation and completion of any required assessments, put your name out there. Attend job fairs and contact principals of prospective schools. It is vital to set up a good resume and practice good interview etiquette. Use LinkedIn and other job search websites to look up ‘teaching positions near me’ to find local opportunities.

If you are considering entering the field of education, there are many reasons why this would be a great career choice. The path begins with taking the first step and enrolling in a program. Then you will be on your way to a highly rewarding career which is extremely satisfying, stressful at times, but the benefits far outweigh the demands of the position.

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